Mizzou Athletics Announces 2025 Hall of Fame Class
4/25/2025 12:30:00 PM | General
Four student-athletes, two former administrators make up 2025 induction class.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Athletics is proud to announce the University of Missouri Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2025, a group of six outstanding individuals who have left a lasting legacy on Mizzou Athletics through achievement, leadership and service.
The 2025 inductees are:
- Mike Alden – Director of Athletics (1998–2015)
- Bob Brendel – Administration (1980-2000)
- Sophie Cunningham – Women's Basketball (2015–19)
- Alyssa Munlyn – Volleyball (2015–18)
- Brock Olivo – Football (1994–97)
- Kareem Rush – Men's Basketball (1999–2002)
These Tiger legends will be officially enshrined during a Hall of Fame ceremony on Friday, September 12, 2025. The following day, they will be honored on the field during Mizzou football's home game against Louisiana at Memorial Stadium.
"This group represents the very best of Mizzou Athletics," said Mizzou Director of Athletics Laird Veatch. "In their own ways, each honoree contributed significantly to the success and tradition that define our department and our university. We are thrilled to celebrate their accomplishments and welcome them into the Hall of Fame."
The Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame features 262 Mizzou legends and four teams — including this year's class — and was founded in 1990. Additional details on this year's induction ceremony will be announced as they are finalized.
The Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame was made possible by the 1989 bequest of $100,000 from the estate of the late A.C. (Ace) and Mary Stotler. It is located on the Mizzou Arena concourse, after being housed in the Hearnes Center until the fall of 2004. The first class was enshrined in 1990, in conjunction with Mizzou's observance of its 100th football season. Induction into the Hall of Fame is the highest honor bestowed upon a Mizzou student-athlete, coach or administrator.
2025 HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES
MIKE ALDEN
Sport: Administrator/Director of Athletics
Years: 1998-2015
Alden led the Mizzou athletics department from 1998-2015, a period of unprecedented growth that saw the athletic department's annual operating budget grow from $13.5 million to nearly $90 million. His 17-year term ranks second only to Don Faurot's 28-year tenure as the Mizzou athletics director. Alden spearheaded Mizzou's move to the Southeastern Conference prior to the 2012-2013 academic year and hired football coach Gary Pinkel, who went on to win 118 games in 15 seasons to become the winningest football coach in school history and an NFF College Football Hall of Famer. Significant facility improvements also occurred on Alden's watch – renovations of Memorial Stadium that included a new press box and an eastside tower, expansion of the Mizzou Athletic Training Complex, and construction of Mizzou Arena, Taylor Stadium, the Mizzou Tennis Complex, the Walsworth Family Golf Center and the Tiger Performance Complex. He was the NACDA Athletic Director of the Year in 2008, and in 2024 he received the Homer Rice Award from the FBS Athletic Directors Association for contributions to college athletics. Alden was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2015. He mentored a number of assistants at Missouri who became highly successful athletics directors in their own right, including Mizzou's current leader, Laird Veatch. Since leaving the department, Alden has been a faculty member in the College of Education and an athletics consultant.
BOB BRENDEL
Sport: Administration/Sports Information Director
Years: 1980-2000
A native of St. Louis and a University of Missouri journalism graduate, Brendel came to Mizzou as an assistant to legendary sports information director Bill Callahan in 1980, then succeeded him upon his retirement in 1985 and served as the Tigers' SID through 2000. His first assignments were men's basketball and baseball, and he later was the point man for football and gymnastics. In basketball, he worked with seven conference championship teams, five that won conference tournament crowns, 14 that advanced to the NCAA Tournament, and was a part of more than 650 games coached by Norm Stewart. He worked with 17 student-athletes who became all-Americans, won more than 50 publications awards including seven best-in-the nation awards for football, basketball, baseball and gymnastics media guides and three specialty publications. He computerized the Mizzou SID office, expanded Mizzou's school records, created the Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame, supervised development of Mizzou's athletics website and played a lead role in the celebration of Missouri's football centennial in 1990. He restructured the sports information staff to better serve Mizzou's coaches and student-athletes, and maintained Callahan's legacy of utilizing a work force of students and volunteers; training and preparing them for careers in college athletics, professional sports, sports media, corporate communications, etc. He built relationships with media members from coast-to-coast while maintaining a reputation for honesty, accessibility, quality and integrity. He later had a long career with the Missouri Department of Transportation and has returned to Mizzou as the department's part-time historian and archivist.
SOPHIE CUNNINGHAM
Sport: Women's Basketball
Years: 2015-19
Already a hometown athletic icon after leading Rock Bridge High School to four consecutive state basketball championships, and with Black-and-Gold DNA, Cunningham took her talents across town and became the most decorated women's basketball player in Mizzou history. Both of her parents were Mizzou athletes, and she joined her older sister Lindsey on the basketball team. Sophie served notice in her very first game as a Tiger, scoring a school-record 42 points against Wake Forest, then went on to become the program's all-time leading scorer with 2,187 career points. She also set the school career record for free throws made (537) and ranks second in three-point field goals made (590) and fourth in career points per game (17.0). Known for her competitiveness, toughness and will to win, Cunningham led the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament four times, advancing to the second round in 2016, '17 and '19. She was a three-time All-SEC first-teamer, and in 2019 became the first Mizzou woman to win All-America honors, being named to the third team by both the AP and the USBWA. In 2016, she was the SEC Freshman of the Year. She was drafted in 2019 by the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and played six seasons there before being traded to the Indiana Fever in 2025. She's also played professionally in Australia and France. Off the court, she and her sister Lindsey collaborated with legendary Mizzou coach Norm Stewart to found the Sophie Cunningham Classic, a high school basketball festival held annually in Columbia to grow the profile of girls basketball in Missouri. She has also done television work for the Phoenix Suns.
ALYSSA MUNLYN
Sport: Volleyball
Years: 2015-18
Munlyn had one of the most dominant careers in Missouri volleyball history from 2015-18, becoming the Tigers' first four-time AVCA All-American. A defensive force, she concluded her career as the program's all-time leader in blocks (634), block assists (516) and blocks per set (1.27). She also set the school record with a .388 hitting percentage from her middle blocker position. Her 2017 junior season, when she set Mizzou season records with 189 blocks, 159 block assists and 1.44 blocks per set, may never be replicated. A native of Suwanee, Georgia, Munlyn was the SEC Freshman of the Year in 2015, and was All-SEC and All-AVCA Southeast Region for four straight years. After her playing career, she spent four seasons on the Missouri coaching staff from 2019-22.
BROCK OLIVO
Sport: Football
Years: 1994-97
The record-breaking running back achieved near folk-lore status during his Missouri career from 1994-97 with a fanatical workout regimen and desire that made him the team's spiritual leader as the Tigers emerged from the doldrums and back into relevancy. He led Mizzou in rushing three times and graduated as the Mizzou career leader in rushing yards (3,026), rushing touchdowns (27) and all-purpose yards (3,475). He was the Big Eight Conference Freshman of the Year in 1994, and an all-conference selection as a junior and a senior. Despite carrying a heavy offensive load, as a senior team captain in 1997, he still played on all four Mizzou special teams and won the inaugural Mosi Tatupu National Special Teams Player of the Year Award. That year, Missouri advanced to the Holiday Bowl, the Tigers' first bowl appearance in 14 seasons. His jersey No. 27 was retired in 2003. Olivo, a native of Washington, Missouri, played four seasons with the NFL's Detroit Lions before launching a coaching career that has seen him coach in Italy, at the collegiate level at Coastal Carolina and Washington University, and in the NFL with Kansas City, Denver and Chicago. He's currently a special teams assistant on Eliah Drinkwitz' staff at Missouri.
KAREEM RUSH
Sport: Men's Basketball
Years: 1999-2002
The left-handed sharpshooter from Kansas City starred at Mizzou for three seasons from 1999-2002 and totaled 1,584 points, 456 rebounds, 174 assists and 102 steals. He's one of just three players in school history with 1,500 points, 200 made three-pointers, 400 rebounds, 100 assists and 100 steals. Rush was the Big 12 Co-Freshman of the Year in 2000 and first-team all-conference the next two seasons when he averaged 21.1 and 19.4 points per game, respectively. He led the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament three times, including runs to the Elite Eight in 2002 and to the round of 32 in 2001. His career 3-point percentage of .439 is a school record, as is his streak of 40 consecutive games with at least one three-pointer made. He became the 12th Tiger to be selected in the first round of the NBA Draft when he was chosen 20th overall by the Toronto Raptors in 2002. He played in 346 games during seven seasons in the NBA, totaling 2,213 points, 572 rebounds, 353 assists and 150 steals.
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